Offenders

Law enforcement agencies that reported hate crime data to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program identified 5,192 known offenders in 5,479 bias-motivated incidents in 2014. In the UCR Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known; rather, the term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the race, ethnicity, and age of the offender or offenders as a group.

In 2013, the national UCR Program began collecting revised race and ethnicity data in accordance with a directive from the U.S. Government’s Office of Management and Budget. The race categories were expanded from four (White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Other Pacific Islander) to five (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). The ethnicity categories changed from “Hispanic” and “Non-Hispanic” to “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino.” (See the Methodology for more information about this program change as well as others.)

By race, ethnicity, and age

Race

In 2014, race was reported for 5,192 known hate crime offenders. Of these offenders:

52.0 percent were White.

23.2 percent were Black or African American.

6.9 percent were groups made up of individuals of various races (group of multiple races).

1.1 percent (58 offenders) were American Indian or Alaska Native.

0.8 percent (39 offenders) were Asian.

Less than 0.1 percent (2 offenders) were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.

Age

By crime category

Crimes against persons

A total of 3,925 known hate crime offenders committed crimes against persons in 2014. Of these offenders:

42.4 percent committed simple assault.

34.0 percent intimidated their victims.

22.9 percent committed aggravated assault.

0.3 percent (10 offenders) raped their victims.

0.1 percent (5 offenders) murdered their victims.

0.3 percent (11 offenders) committed other types of offenses, which are collected only in the UCR Program’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). (Based onTable 2.)

Crimes against property

A total of 1,455 known hate crime offenders committed crimes against property in 2014. Of these offenders:

54.4 percent committed destruction/damage/vandalism.

17.5 percent committed robbery.

12.7 percent committed burglary.

10.4 percent committed larceny-theft.

1.4 percent committed arson.

1.0 percent (15 offenders) committed motor vehicle theft.

2.5 percent committed other types of offenses, which are collected only in the NIBRS. (Based on Table 2.)

Crimes against society

In 2014, 61 known offenders committed 53 crimes against society involving 55 victims. Crimes against society are collected only via the NIBRS. (See Table 2.) Crimes against society (e.g., weapon law violations, drug/narcotic offenses, gambling offenses) represent society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity; they are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object.